Golf clubs take various forms, for example a wood, a hybrid, an iron, a wedge, or a putter, and these clubs generally differ in head shape and design (e.g., the difference between a wood and an iron), club head material(s), shaft material(s), club length, and club loft.
Generally, when assembling a known golf club, the shaft is cut or trimmed to a desired length. Woods and hybrids generally have a longer shaft than irons, wedges, and putters, with putters generally having the shortest shaft length. After the shaft is trimmed to the desired length, the shaft is attached to the golf club head by a hosel. The shaft is typically attached to the golf club head with an epoxy or other adhesive. In some golf clubs, however, the shaft is coupled to an adapter that engages a removable threaded member in the hosel, securing the shaft to the golf club head. A grip is then installed on the shaft.
After assembly of these known golf clubs it is difficult to adjust the length of the shaft. A first option is to remove and replace the original shaft with a new shaft of a different length. Unfortunately, this option results in additional cost for the new shaft. A second option is to remove the grip, either cut off a portion of the butt end of the shaft (e.g., the end of the shaft opposite the golf club head) to shorten the shaft or install a shaft extension in the butt end of the shaft to lengthen the shaft, and then install a new grip. This option not only incurs additional expense associated with a new grip, but adjusting the shaft length at the butt end modifies the swing weight of the golf club (specifically, shortening drops swing weight while lengthening increases swing weight), modifies the total weight of the golf club (shortening drops total weight while lengthening increases total weight), and modifies the shaft stiffness (shortening generally increases shaft stiffness while lengthening generally decreases shaft stiffness). Both options are undesirable for the casual golfer due to the added expense, time incurred repairing or adjusting the golf club, and/or adverse changes to golf club total weight, golf club swing weight, and/or stiffness of the shaft.
While there are known options for adjusting the length of a golf club shaft, there is a need to improve adjustability of shaft length without substantially impacting the total weight, swing weight, or aesthetics of the golf club.